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Oacoma, South Dakota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Oacoma town. It lies in ZIP code area 57365. It stands on American Crow Creek. The Survey maps it on the Oacoma quadrangle. 386 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,385 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Oacoma within Lyman County

Population over time

2 figures

Oacoma fell from 451 to 386 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010451
2020386-65 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

36 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Oacoma between 2010 and 2020, burning about 862 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Fireworks1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
5 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionRR FIRE
5 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionFELTMAN
4 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionREST AREA FIRE
4 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionI-90
25 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresBrule CountyPALMER
21 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionTURKEY BUZZARD
10 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined670 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionMAYER
3 August 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionRAILROAD

Every fire recorded in Lyman County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Oacoma: 4 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Manganese. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Chamberlain Manganese DistrictManganeseUnknown
Glaus PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Milwaukee Rr PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Lyman County

Storms near this place

60 of 66 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oacoma in 66 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 44 thunderstorm wind, 18 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2009FloodOacoma$5,000The White River rose above the flood stage of 15 feet near Oacoma in the late afternoon hours of February 11th. The White River crested at 17.64 feet around noon on February 13th before it fell below flood stage in the mid morning hours of the 15th.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A measured wind gust of 72 mph was recorded at the South Dakota State University mesonet weather station near Oacoma.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindOacoma-The public observed that wind-driven hail stripped siding from a house. In addition, barn doors were blown off and cattle were forced through a fence and out onto the road.
July 2025Tornado (EF0)Oacoma-A waterspout observed northeast of Oacoma on the Missouri River.
August 2025HailOacoma-Hail measuring one inch in diameter was reported nine miles southwest of Oacoma.
June 2024Flash FloodOacoma-Emergency Management reported several county roads under as much as 3 to 4 feet of water. Additionally, runoff from an estimated three to five inches of rain caused the White River near Oacoma to crest at 16.07 ft at 215am CST. Minor flooding of agricultural land was observed in association with this river flooding.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A South Dakota Mesonet weather station recorded a wind gust of 62 mph.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A semi was tipped over on Instate 90.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A trained spotter reported tree damage, downed powerlines, tipped over campers, and roof damage in and around Oacoma.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A vehicle was damaged when an estimated seventy mph wind blew a sign into it.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Estimated seventy mph winds knocked over a camper on Interstate-90.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A semi was blown off the road near Oacoma.
June 2018Flash FloodOacoma-Flash flooding from heavy rains occurred east of Oacoma with parts of roads underwater.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Sixty-five mph winds were estimated.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Estimated seventy mph winds occurred at Oacoma.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Estimated eighty mph winds caused damage to the roof of a hotel along with snapping a street sign off. A freeway boom was also snapped.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindOacoma-An estimated 60 mph wind gust was reported by a trained spotter along with heavy rainfall.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Damaging winds overturned two campers, took off part of a house addition, and blew a boat away from a mooring and up against the rocks.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Seventy mph winds were estimated.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindOacoma-A few power lines and poles were downed by eighty mph winds.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Winds snapped a six inch diameter tree off at its base.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Six trees 25 foot tall and a foot in diameter had the tops snapped off.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindOacoma-Seventy mph winds brought down many large tree branches.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
August 2025Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
August 2025Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
September 2025Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2024Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2024Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
August 2022Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2022Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
May 2022HailOacoma-no account filed
May 2022HailOacoma-no account filed
August 2022Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2022Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2020HailOacoma-no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2018HailOacoma-no account filed
June 2018HailOacoma-no account filed
August 2017HailOacoma-no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2015Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
May 2013Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2012HailOacoma-no account filed
June 2012HailOacoma-no account filed
May 2011Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
September 2010HailOacoma-no account filed
July 2010Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
July 2010HailOacoma-no account filed
July 2010HailOacoma-no account filed
July 2010Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed
August 2007HailOacoma-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindOacoma-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lyman County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Reliance12.4 miles8
Iona17.5 miles11
Lyman19.1 miles8
Lower Brule21.9 miles8
Council House22.0 miles8
Kennebec25.8 miles8
Presho36.0 miles6
Vivian48.4 miles6

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on OacomaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2237953The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1265308. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.